1,721,119 research outputs found
Transition to turbulence in serpentine pipes
No full textThe geometry considered in the present work (serpentine pipe) is a sequence of U-bends of alternate curvature. It is characterized by pipe diameter, d = 2a and bend diameter, D = 2c. The repeated curvature inversion forces the secondary flow pattern, typical of all flows in curved ducts, to switch between two mirror-like configurations. This causes (i) pressure drop and heat or mass transfer characteristics much different from those occurring either in a straight pipe or in a constant-curvature pipe, and (ii) an early loss of stability of the base steady-state flow. In the present work, four values of the curvature δ = a/c (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were considered. For each value of δ, the friction velocity Reynolds number Reτ = uτa/ν was made to vary in steps between 10 and 50. Fully developed flow was simulated using a three-dimensional, time-dependent finite volume method and computational grids with a number of nodes ranging from ∼1.8 to ∼4.6 × 106, according to the curvature. The computational domain included two consecutive and opposite bends and thus coincided with the minimum spatially repetitive unit. Heat transfer was also simulated for uniform wall heat flux conditions and a Prandtl number of 1. A complex scenario of transitions was predicted, leading from the base steady-state, top-down symmetric flow to turbulence through intermediate regimes which included steady-state asymmetric and time-periodic flows. For all curvatures, at the highest value of Reτ investigated (50) the flow was turbulent and exhibited top-down symmetric time averages
Mathematical modelling of hollow-fiber haemodialysis modules
Full text linkThis chapter provides an overview of the principles and modelling of membrane-based modules for haemodialysis, the most common renal replacement therapy. Following an introduction on the structure, function and diseases of the kidney, the technological evolution of membranes for blood purification is outlined and the main transport mechanisms involved are described, making a distinction between pure
haemodialysis, haemodiafiltration and haemofiltration. The main performance figures of a hollow-fiber module are introduced and their dependence on the parameters that characterize the device is illustrated. A multi-scale modelling approach is then presented, in which preliminary single-fiber CFD simulations are used to derive the hydraulic permeability of a fiber bundle and the relevant mass transfer coefficients as functions of the local velocities. The predicted correlations are then fed to a module-scale model, in which blood and dialysate compartments are simulated as interpenetrated porous media while appropriate source terms account for the exchange of solutes andwater between the two fluids. The model predictions are three-dimensional flow and concentration distributions, from which, in particular, performance figures such as clearance and ultrafiltration flow rate can be extracted as functions of the module geometrical and physical characteristics. Validation tests are also presented and the results of a parametrical sensitivity assessment are discussed
Experimental and Computational Study of Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) of Omega-3 Components from Fish Oil in Structured Packing
Full text linkThe benefits of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their implications for human health have gained scientific
attention to their extraction from biological sources, not being produced by the human body. Most known
industrial productions of omega-3 fatty acids often work under operating conditions that may degrade these
components and they often use toxic or flammable solvents that can adversely affect human health. In this
sense, innovative and interesting prospects are provided by Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE).
In this work, two parallel studies were carried out: an experimental activity in a laboratory apparatus using
supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and preliminary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, limited to
the hydrodynamic aspects of the process. In the experimental apparatus a Sulzer® EX structured packing, made
up of corrugated metal gauze sheets, was used as the column filler. The study made it possible to identify the
optimal operating conditions leading to an enrichment of the starting mixture in Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), target products. CFD simulations were based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF)
approach, suitable to the present complex multiphase system with two phases in close contact (transesterified
fish oil and scCO2). The meatus created by the corrugations of the metal gauze was chosen as the calculation
domain representative of the system. The computations were performed by the commercial software Ansys
Fluent®, which allowed the prediction of the hydrodynamic evolution of the system through transient simulations.
CFD predictions were in qualitative agreement with the experimental result
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The REAPower Project: Power Production From Saline Waters and Concentrated Brines
No full textAim of this chapter is that of describing in detail the REAPower project from the very beginning up to the testing of the pilot plant built at the end of the project
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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